It's Time to Vote! Ten Tips for Getting Involved in Your Community

As we approach Town Meeting Day here in Vermont (on March 6 this year) my thoughts turn to community involvement.  Last time I talked about leadership in your families.  Today I want to talk to you about leadership in your community, in other words community involvement.

In case you didn't know, Town Meeting Day is a state holiday where most organized towns in Vermont (and other New England states) will elect municipal officers, approve annual budgets, and conduct any other necessary business.  Town Meeting Day is very important because it gives us a chance to give voice to our thoughts on how our town or city should be run.  It is our civic duty to vote.  I'm always of the mind that if you do not vote then you have no right to complain about the choices made by those who do vote.

Voting on Town Meeting Day is just one way that you can get involved in your community.  Here are some other ways of being a productive member of your community:

• Join clubs and groups that interest you.  It's a really good idea to have interests outside your family because you can be a role model for your children in getting involved.
  
  
• Encourage your children to take part in extra-curricular activities, both through school and outside of school.  When they take part in these activities, they are less likely to feel isolated and alone.  Let them know that it is important to feel part of a community.
  
  
• Get involved in community events like summer festivals or craft shows.  Be involved not just as a participant but also as a volunteer or organizer.  Bring the kids if it is something for the whole family.
  
  
• Find a cause that you believe in and volunteer.  Don't just make a financial donation; make a time donation if possible.  When kids are exposed to volunteering, it helps them see diversity in the world and helps them become more compassionate and empathetic.  Good things to have when you are an adult!
  
  
• Take your kids to work.  Most places have a Take Your Kids To Work day.  Let the kids know what mom or dad (or any other adult caretaker) does at work all day to bring home the bacon.  This lets the kids see the possibilities for work when they are older.
  
  
• Encourage your children to speak up and voice their own opinions.  When this is done throughout childhood, that child will become an adult that is comfortable voicing his or her opinion.  Everyone deserves to have his or her voice heard.
  
  
• Talk to your kids about the importance of voting.  Let them know that it is their civic duty to let their voice be heard.  Discuss whom you are voting for and why.  Prepare your kids for the day when they can vote for the first time and make a celebration out of it, They have just become an important member of society - a voter!
  
  
• Get to know your neighbors.  These days it's very easy to live compartmentalized lives with work, school, and extra-curricular activities for the kids, and errands for the parents.  We often don't take the time to get to know our neighbors beyond saying hello to them as we get in the car.  When we have friends amongst our neighbors we are naturally building mini communities.  This helps to create a sense of belonging and safety.
  
  
• Become a Block Parent.  Let all children know that your house is a safe house that they can come to if they are in trouble.  You'll have to attend meetings and that will help you get to know your neighbors.
  
  
• Raise healthy, emotionally secure, loving children so that as adults they will in turn become productive members of society.  Your children are your gift to the world.  Make it the best gift you can!

On a final note, by becoming involved in our communities, whether just the street we live on or the town or city we live in, we are making them a better place in which to raise our families safely, We all want to belong to something bigger than ourselves.  It's a natural yearning that we have.  As John Donne said in Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation XVII "...no man is an island."  What he meant is that people do not thrive when they are isolated.  So get involved.  You owe it to your kids and to yourself.

Happy voting!

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